Coming soon to iPhones: Skype

Internet calling software already available on Android

Video

Something for everyone at CES
Jan. 8 Jay Gray reports that it’s not all business and skinny TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show, which features everything from interactive stuff animals to a gizmo that lets you duck hunt in your living room.

NBC News Channel

Latest CES Videos

Can CES’ gadgets lure cautious consumers?
Jan. 9: Industry representatives at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas are hoping to persuade anxious consumers that their products will meet needs they didn't know they had. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

TV you can wear?

Belles of the CES ball

Living in hi-def

Slideshow

Image: 18k gold cases for cell phones and iPhones

Will CES impress?
The product lineup for the International Consumer Electronics show still looks promising, despite the tough economy.

more photos

By Jessica Mintz

updated 4:58 p.m. ET Jan. 8, 2009

LAS VEGAS - Free calls over Skype, the Internet communications service, could be coming soon to the iPhone.

Skype, a subsidiary of eBay Inc., said Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google Inc.'s Android cell phone platform as a free download. And it indicated an iPhone Skype program isn't far behind.

Scott Durschlag, Skype's chief operating officer, said Skype's iPhone application is still under development. Engineers are still working on cutting the amount of power the application consumes, he said.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Skype would not be the first iPhone program that makes use of Internet calling technology to save people from having to spend their cellular minutes. But when Apple started letting outside companies make programs for the iPhone, it barred voice-over-Internet applications from connecting to the cellular network, leaving them functional only when the user is in a Wi-Fi hot spot.

Apple representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Skype's Durschlag opened his presentation on a bright note despite undercurrents of economic gloom in the tech industry.

"My biggest concern, to be honest with you, is an abundance of opportunities," Durschlag said. "The take-up of Skype is accelerating."

Click for related content

More Consumer Electronics Show coverage
Low times for high tech as CES opens
New Palm OS, device expected at CES
Microsoft says Windows 7 near

He said more than 370 million people have signed up for Skype, with about 30 million new users coming aboard each quarter.

New Skype software for Windows computers will be available in early February. It overhauls the user interface and makes full-screen video-calling features more prominent. According to the company, the new version also marks an advance in audio quality.

This week, Skype launched a new version for Apple's Macintosh computers. The company also is releasing an open-source version for an emerging category of small Intel-based computers that run Linux software.